Bio-warfare In Middle-earth

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

I'm here 'til Tuesday; try the veal!

Aaaand meat's back on the menu, boys! We won't tell you whose.

Having reread the thread, I am actually surprised that I still agree entirely with my post 4 years ago.

But here's a new thought: if Orcs ate rubbish meat and even other orcs, and Gollum ate Orcs and occasional other animals, it's a wonder he didn't get sick more often. Infectious diseases which accumulate in the animal reservoir can peak in the apex predators, because they eat other animals (which might also have eaten other animals in turn) and are thus more likely to eat something infected. Proportionally, assuming the infection can be carried by all the animals involved, you're more likely to come across it in a predator than in his prey. For instance, sleeping sickness has a reservoir in domestic animals, but in the wild its biggest reservoir is lions. So either the Ring was keeping Gollum healthy, or he was a gourmand eater when it came to orc meat, or he actually did get sick from various things, including your basic food poisoning, and we just don't know about it. As for Orcs... probably had very tough stomachs, and also probably didn't keep around anyone to sick to work.